Cridex

Chapter Twenty

They dragged me across the floor, then tossed me into a black room. I landed blindly, throwing my hands out in front of me to soften the impact. "Oof!" The person who I landed on grunted, and I blinked at the voice.

"C-Camden?" I asked as strong hands pushed me off of him.

"Ellery?" I could hear the surprise in his voice.

I nodded, then realized he couldn't see me. "Yeah, it's me," I replied, then placed my hands on the wall, leaning towards it for balance. My forearm ached at the pressure, and I bit my lip from crying out.

"Oh, thank the gods," Instead of surprise, Camden's voice was filled with relief. "Do you know where Jonas or Imogen are?" I felt as he shifted himself on the ground.

"No, they separated Jonas and I before the branding," I said, then frowned. "Don't you know where Imogen is?"

Camden released a heavy sigh. "No, they separated both of us as well. At least I found you," I could hear the smile in his voice as he stated the last part of his sentence.

"Yeah..." I trailed off as I fidgeted with my hair. "Are they in this room as well, or are there other holding cells?"

"I think Imogen may have mentioned that there were multiple rooms to split cyborgs up. Obviously, they thought we weren't acquainted with each other. Now that we're both in this room, there is a very small chance Imogen or Jonas will be in here," Camden said, slowly standing up.

I hummed quietly to fill the silence. Most of the cyborgs were quiet, and Camden stopped speaking. "Do you know what will happen next?" I whispered to Camden.

"The auction," He spat out, voice heavy. "We are about to be auctioned off to some wealthy government official for their use." I fell silent after that, refusing to seem scared but on the inside, I was secretly shaking. I was about to be auctioned off to a stranger.

Slowly, the room filled up with cyborgs, feet dragging heavily on the floor. They were all unceremoniously tossed inside, just as I was. Soon, the room was packed, and everyone had to stand up. Camden kept his hold on me always, telling me, "we had to stick together and find the others."

Eventually, I closed my eyes and stood in my place. I didn't want to see any more injuries or pain and suffering. It was terribly frightening, and I felt sympathy for each and every cyborg in this room. Imogen was right, just looking at the cyborgs and living conditions would turn anyone into a cyborg sympathizer.

"All right, get up you lazy pieces of metal!" A sharp, commading voice filled the silence of the room. "We are operating on a tight schedule," She shouted. "Not that any of you would understand," She muttered as an afterthought.

Then she clapped her hands together loudly. "Hurry up! Get into a line and follow my lead. We are going to the auction room. Freshen up, not that it would help anyways, you guys are all disgusting and filthy," She added snarkily, a wicked grin decorating her face.

I sighed and followed Camden as he lined up obediently. The woman led us out of the door, but I didn't miss her nose wrinkling. She ushered us into a thin, dark hallway, saying, "Stay here and don't move. Hear that? Do. Not. Move." She repeated, as if she was speaking to children.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Camden noticed and chuckled quietly. "One by one, you will be led onto the stage. Then you will be auctioned off to the person who bids the highest amount. Good luck, and hopefully you runts will be gone," She grinned.

Then she walked to the front of the line, staring down disapprovingly at the first cyborg. "You will be first. Try not to embarrass me or disappoint me. I need a raise," She scoffed. "The city don't pay me enough to stand in the same room as you lot."